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Negativity Bias and the Meta Experience:I just had an uncanny experience: a recent radio interview went all Meta on me. I was speaking to the host, Devon Peacock, about negativity bias – our tendency to focus on the negative over the positive – and suddenly, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember a word.The word was Cortisol – the stress hormone that’s released when we…See More

So, you’re at your wit’s end. The four walls are closing in, your kids are starting to drive you crazy, you’re losing patience with your spouse; your finances are in a shambles and you can’t find a moment of peace to be by yourself. Or, maybe you’re living alone and you're so lonely and isolated that you just can’t bear it. What do you do when after more than eight weeks of social distancing you’re on your very last nerve?People have been getting up to some strange behaviour lately. Last…See More

The mental health toll of Covid-19As all the experts talk about the serious physical health risks of the Covid-19 pandemic, I want to talk about the equally serious risks to our mental health. The fact is that this pandemic is stirring up our deepest, most primordial fears around survival.Every human being has these primal survival fears – of death, of being alone, of not having enough money, and of living in a dangerous world. Many of us in the West have been fortunate enough that we’ve rarely…See More

Canada is reeling over Covid-19Right now, in the midst of the global pandemic, people around the world are feeling frightened, helpless and out of control. We have no idea what’s coming, whether on a personal, familial, economic or societal level. Here in Canada, this is a relatively new and unpleasant experience for most of us.In our well-to-do first world country that prides itself on a robust social welfare system, many of us assume that life here includes a good measure of stability,…See More

Canada is reeling over Covid-19Right now, in the midst of the global pandemic, people around the world are feeling frightened, helpless and out of control. We have no idea what’s coming, whether on a personal, familial, economic or societal level. Here in Canada, this is a relatively new and unpleasant experience for most of us.In our well-to-do first world country that prides itself on a robust social welfare system, many of us assume that life here includes a good measure of stability,…See More

Out of balance?Recently, I interviewed entrepreneur and author, Nir Eyal for my Ruthless Compassion podcast. He talked about how technology is an absolute necessity but that like anything else we find helpful and enjoyable, we can find ourselves out of balance when using it.We don’t even realize how many hours a day we spend, hooked up to our technology. Whether it’s looking at our phones,…See More

Out of balance?Recently, I interviewed entrepreneur and author, Nir Eyal for my Ruthless Compassion podcast. He talked about how technology is an absolute necessity but that like anything else we find helpful and enjoyable, we can find ourselves out of balance when using it.We don’t even realize how many hours a day we spend, hooked up to our technology. Whether it’s looking at our phones,…See More

Mass hysteria goes viral:The hysteria we’ve been feeling lately over the arrival in North America of the novel coronavirus reminds me of the fears that we had around the SARS crisis in Toronto in 2003 and the Ebola virus in 2014.If you lived through either of these times you can probably recall how freaked out people were during these outbreaks. Many Canadians over-reacted to situations that turned out to be not nearly as bad as they’d thought.With the latest infectious outbreak appearing to…See More

Mass hysteria goes viral:The hysteria we’ve been feeling lately over the arrival in North America of the novel coronavirus reminds me of the fears that we had around the SARS crisis in Toronto in 2003 and the Ebola virus in 2014.If you lived through either of these times you can probably recall how freaked out people were during these outbreaks. Many Canadians over-reacted to situations that turned out to be not nearly as bad as they’d thought.With the latest infectious outbreak appearing to…See More

They say that November is the cruelest month but I’m putting in my vote for January as a close second. All across Canada and the United States, a harsh and gloomy winter is upon us. Ontarians have been experiencing an unseasonably mild winter suffering pelting rains that have flooded many an unsuspecting basement, while British Columbia and Newfoundland are having record-breaking snowfalls. In Florida, frozen iguanas are falling out of trees.So how can a person survive the long, hard winter? I…See More

The New Year is here again and it brings to mind a former patient – let’s call her Jody. Every year, toward the end of December, Jody would read me her list of New Year’s resolutions and then a week or two later she’d show up at my office with a downcast look and her shoulders hunched over in shame. She was despondent and embarrassed because yet again, she was unable to keep even one of her resolutions.Whether it was going on a diet, starting an exercise program, clearing out her clutter or…See More

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Marcia Sirota is a board-certified psychiatrist and author. Her areas of interest include self-care, healthy relationships, overcoming addiction and personal empowerment. She is passionate about facilitating positive growth and change. marciasirotamd.com

Marcia Sirota's Articles

Negativity Bias and the Meta Experience:

I just had an uncanny experience: a recent radio interview went all Meta on me. I was speaking to the host, Devon Peacock, aboutnegativity bias– our tendency to focus on the negative over the positive – and suddenly, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember a word.

So, you’re at your wit’s end. The four walls are closing in, your kids are starting to drive you crazy, you’re losing patience with your spouse; your finances are in a shambles and you can’t find a moment of peace to be by yourself. Or, maybe you’re living alone and you're so lonely and isolated that you just can’t bear it. What do you do when after more than eight weeks of social distancing you’re on your very last nerve?

The mental health toll of Covid-19

As all the experts talk about the serious physical health risks of the Covid-19 pandemic, I want to talk about the equally serious risks to our mental health. The fact is that this pandemic is stirring up our deepest, most primordial fears around survival.

Every human being has these primal survival fears – of death, of being alone, of not having enough money, and of living in a dangerous world. Many of us in the West have been fortunate…

Canada is reeling over Covid-19

Right now, in the midst of the global pandemic, people around the world are feeling frightened, helpless and out of control. We have no idea what’s coming, whether on a personal, familial, economic or societal level. Here in Canada, this is a relatively new and unpleasant experience for most of us.

In our well-to-do first world country that prides itself on a robust social welfare system, many of us assume that life here includes a good measure…

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